Today's post is written by Joseph Michael Peterson, a strategic communications and CSR manager in Washington, D.C. In his free time, he organizes groups of friends and neighbors for service projects in the surrounding community, as part of his own fledgling social organization.

I used to live in a town. Within two blocks of my house was a Big Brothers Big Sisters office, a neighborhood garden, a homeless shelter, a local food bank, a soup kitchen, the YMCA and a service-learning center sponsored by the local university. I never went.

Then last weekend I hosted a Sunday Supper and used it to launch a social club for meaningful activities and community service. But it didn't start there.

Two years ago I stumbled upon the Conference of Volunteering and Service (which, you may find to be an interesting story by itself that I blogged about here). 

NCVS literally changed my life. I had been involved here and there with community service, usually through large events coordinated by school or church, but NCVS opened my eyes to an entire new world, brave with those who embraced a culture of optimism and service, and I found myself among them. 

I left New Orleans "jazzed" to get into the thick of my new culture and equipped with resources in how to better insert myself into the needs of my community. In the last two years, I've gone on to volunteer with my local chapters of the Red Cross, the International Rescue Committee, various food banks and shelters. But I wanted to bring others along with me. I wanted to reach out to those like me who grew up tragically out of the loop of programs like AmeriCorps and HandsOn but who still wanted to attach themselves to something bigger, engaged in giving back to our communities. Thus the Greatness Initiative Social Club (GISC) was born. My goal for GISC is to organize social events that are focused on the bigger picture, community service and other forms of meaningful engagement. 

GISC had its first ever event by attaching our wagon to the Points of Light service project in Washington DC on the Martin Luther King National Day of Service. Twelve near-strangers with each other showed up united by an idea and ready to serve. We served, socialized, and left energized for a new future dedicated to service and community good for the coming year.

SUNDAY SUPPER

The following day, those who served with me and a few others came to my house for America's Sunday Supper. We thought about watching a documentary, but the group was eager to relive aspects of the previous day of service and talk about other ideas to get involved in the community more formally. Over home-made spaghetti we brainstormed ideas and projects for the rest of the year. I passed around a questionnaire everyone filled out with what kind of service they enjoyed the most and what their own big ideas were for making an impact in our neighborhoods and cities. Once the door was open to let everyone's idealism freely roam about, it was hard to put an end to the evening, which as far as GISC is concerned, is kind of the point. In the end, we planned several service projects and agreed to meet up again to watch that documentary we were to busy to get to. 

Reflecting back on the weekend of service and a Sunday Supper MLK style, I realize once again, like I did back in New Orleans that something has changed. A new chapter of spreading the joy of community service and volunteering has begun, this time in a much bigger way for me, among my own social networks. Our opportunities are as endless as they are immediate, and there is work to be done. 

I've moved across the country but now I live in a town. Within two blocks of my house is a Boys and Girls Club, A family educational center, a neighborhood garden, a homeless shelter, a food bank, a soup kitchen, a community Rec Center and a HandsOn Network office. I go there now.